Abaetetuba / Marcio Mattos / John Edwards

In their first European tour, the Brazilian improvisers, Abaetetuba, will be playing an evening concert with the renowned UK based Brazilian musician Marcio Mattos (cello) and John Edwards (double-bass).

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ABAETETUBA: ANTONIO PANDA GIANFRATTI, YEDO GIBSON, RODRIGO MONTOYA, THOMAS ROHRER & RENATO FERREIRA

ABAETETUBA is a Brazilian indigenous name (Tupi-Guarani) that means “a gathering of good people”. Yedo Gibson and Antonio Panda Gianfratti have been working with improvisation since 2000, they founded the group in 2004 in Sao Paulo the music has a wealth of influences and interests and is played with passion and energy, using traditional, folk and newly created instruments. In 2006 the group recorded in Brazil a CD with Marcio Mattos.

www.myspace.com/abaetetuba

ANTONIO PANDA GIANFRATTI: drums, percussion, newly created instruments

After 30 years playing jazz, bossa nova and brazilian traditional folk music Antonio Panda Gianfratti left behind this musical scene and started to study new directions for his music. Some years after he was starting his own work in improvised music with his friend the saxophonist Yedo Gibson. They recorded four albums and in 2004 they founded the Abaetetuba group. Since then Antonio Panda started many other projects and collaborations with musicians, visual artists, actors, dancers, Live Cine with Raquel Rosalem, Marcio Mattos, Phil Minton, Hans Koch, Veryan Weston among many others.

www.myspace.com/antoniopandagianfratti

YEDO GIBSON : saxophones and E flat Clarinet

Yedo Gibson started to play improvised music with Antonio Panda in 2000 and founded the Abaetetuba group in 2004. In the same year he came to London and played with musicians such as John Edwards, Marcio Mattos, Veryan Weston, Steve Noble, Dominic Lash, Mark Sanders, Martin Blume, Steve Beresford and other great free improvisers. In 2006, Yedo came to live in The Netherlands where has been working a lot as a free improviser. There he created the Den Haag Improvisers Orchestra, that involves 26 musicians from all over the world and from all kinds of backgrounds.

www.yedogibson.com
www.myspace.com/yedogibson

RODRIGO MONTOYA: tsugaru-shamisen

Rodrigo Montoya came to London in 2008 with his Tsugaru-shamisen, a Japanese instrument with three-stringed spike lute struck with a large plectrum. In Brazil he has played in Japanese traditional folk groups and also within the experimental and improvised music scene. In London he has collaborated with London Improvisers Orchestra, Marcio Mattos, Ricardo Tejero, Javier Carmona, Guillaume Viltard, Eddie Prevost’s workshop, The Radioactive Ensemble among many others.

RENATO FERREIRA : saxophones, B flat clarinet and double-bass

Renato Ferreira started to play music with rock groups. Later he performed as a double bass player in the orchestra of composer Ricardo Zohyo for four and a half years, in which period he became familiar with a variety of traditional Brazilian folk music. Currently he lives in Holland and studies composition in the Royal Conservatoire in Den Haag. In the Netherlands he has worked with: Raoul van der Weide, John Dikeman, Wim Janssen, Oscar Jan Hoogland, Alfredo Genovesi, Gerri Jäger, Eric Boeren and The Den Haag Improvisers Orchestra.

www.myspace.com/renatomeganha

THOMAS ROHRER: saxophones and rabeca

Thomas Rohrer was born in Switzerland and has lived in Brazil since 1995. He plays saxophones, violin, and the rabeca, a large and rustic Brazilian violin. His work is involved within improvised music, contemporary jazz, brazilian folk music and medieval music. He has collaborated and is part of various groups such as Sendebar (Medieval music's group), Saadet Türköz, Abaetetuba, Duo Rohrer & Gianfratti, Satoshi Takeishi, Marcio Mattos, Phil Minton, Hans Koch, Catriona Mckay among many others.

www.myspace.com/thomasrohrer

JOHN EDWARDS:

After taking up the bass, around 1987, John Edwards co-formed The Pointy Birds who went on to win awards for their music for The Cholmondeleys and Featherstonehaughs dance troupes. The group appeared at festivals in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Moers, Leverkusen, Copenhagen. Around 1990, Edwards played his first gigs with London improvisers such as Roger Turner, Lol Coxhill, Maggie Nicols, Phil Minton.

Between 1990 and 1995 Edwards was a member of three touring groups simultaneously: B-Shops For The Poor, The Honkies and GOD. During this period he also became an increasingly regular player on the London improvised music scene and performed his first solo gigs; he composed and performed music theatre with the bass and cello duo The Great Explorers, street-busked a lot and appeared at many more festivals in Germany, Estonia, France, Italy, Czech, etc.

Since 1995 John Edwards has become a "mainstay" of the London scene, playing with just about everybody, an activity that has seen him clocking up between 150 and 200 gigs a year. He has become regular player with Evan Parker, in many groupings, and with Tony Bevan, Veryan Weston, and Elton Dean, often in collaboration with Mark Sanders on percussion. He has become a more frequent player on the European (and festival) scene, appearing at Taktlos, Ulrichsburg, Nickelsdorf, Budapest, New Zealand and in the USA. He continues to work on solo performances.

www.efi.group.shef.ac.uk/musician/medwards.html

MARCIO MATTOS:

Born Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Studied acoustic guitar in early teens and was active in the brazilian "BOSSA NOVA" movement both as musician and composer. Played in various semi-pro bands late 60's Rio, switching to double bass and cello, mainly self-taught, after becoming interested in Jazz. Later entered the Villa-Lobos institute where he became involved in free improvisation and electronic music, mainly through the influence of visiting american composers Lukas Foss and Vladimir Ussachevsky. Due to the unfavorable political climate and military dictatorship in Brazil at the time, he left the country to come to Europe in the early 70's. After arriving in London, started playing at the Little Theatre Club in several of John Stevens' groups. Joined also Mal Dean's Amazing Band. Since then has performed, recorded and broadcast both in Britain and abroad in various groups with leading improvisers including Evan Parker, John Surman, Derek Bailey's Company, Dewey Redman, Roscoe Mitchell and Marylin Crispell amongst many others. Has also worked with dance companies such as Ballet Rambert and The Extemporary Dance Theatre Company, and in electro-acoustic music groups such as the West Square Electronic Music Ensemble. A long- standing member of the Eddie Prevost Quartet and of various Elton Dean groups. Other British projects have include the "Bardo State Orchestra", Chris Burn's Ensemble, "Wooden Taps" with Maggie Nicols, "Embers" with John Butcher and others. A long-standing member of the London Improvisers Orchestra.

Has toured extesively in the European Union and in North America, Brazil, Australia and Japan, both performing and giving improvisation worshops. Main festivals have included: Jazz a Mulhouse, Moers, Nancy-vandoeuvre, Banlieus Bleues, Ulrichsberger Kaleidophon, Konfrontationen, Poschiavo, Bell Atlantic Jazz Fest., Vancouver, Victoriaville, Balve Hohle and others.

International projects working in Europe have included “The Transatlantic Ensemble” with Roscoe Mitchell, Evan Parker and others, Georg Graewe's Grubenklang Orchestra, Stefano Maltese's "Open Music Ensemble", Tony Oxley's Celebration Orchestra, A bass/cello and shakuhachi duo with Shiku Yano, and in Japan various groupings with Sabu Toyozumi.

Current projects include "Lines" with Phil Wachsmann/Jim Denley Axel Dorner and Martin Blume, "Full Monte" with Chris Biscoe, Brian Godding and Tony Marsh , “AXON” with Phil Minton, Fred Van Hove and Martin Blume, “ZFP”- with Carlos Zingaro, Simon H Fell and Mark Sanders, and a String Quartet with Phil Wachsmann, Charlotte Hug and John Edwards.

www.myspace.com/marciomattosmusic
www.musiclay.co.uk